Bar Twelve is part of what used to be the Regency Hotel. It’s now a three-part complex with a restaurant called “Metro Brasserie” and a hotel “Crescent Townhouse”.

It’s situated just off Botanic Avenue, in Lower Crescent in Belfast’s busy pub area. It’s one of those bars where the majority of people who frequent it at night are only stopping in to meet people, or nip in for a quick pint before nipping off somewhere else.

There is no entertainment as such – some music is played (a mixture of styles) over the PA system and there’s a quiz once a week on Films and entertainment.

There is plenty of nice seating, including some very comfy leather seats, and an excellent table service which means you can plonk yourself down at a table and not get up until you have to go home.

It serves the usual array of beers and spirits a well as a fairly good cocktail and wine list.

This means, on a busy Friday or Saturday night, the crowd ebbs and flows which can confuse as one minute the bar will be busy, then fairly empty, then busy again. At it’s busiest however, it never gets so packed that it becomes uncomfortable, and the door staff are always friendly and reasonable (in my experiences anyway!). Despite this, I find it an excellent place to spend an entire evening, especially if you get there early enough and get some nice seats, and make friends with whatever waiter or waitress is working that night. The fact that apart from one night, there is no real entertainment on, means that it’s somewhere you can go with friends and just chat while have a few drinks without having to worry about competition from the band / disco / fiddly-dee (i.e. traditional Irish music) people in the corner.

It’s a mixed crowd that attends Bar Twelve – from the younger drinkers to the older generation. This gives it a nice atmosphere. Unlike some other bars around Bel
fast, trouble is rarely, if ever seen at Bar Twelve.